1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved approach for automatic detection and synchronization in handheld electronic units such as cell phones, etc. that may have the need for add-on units to be connected thereto. Such devices may include barcode scanners, PDAs, printers, scanners, and the like. To this end, the present invention relates generally to a portable terminal with a Bluetooth® (hereinafter called Bluetooth) module, and in particular, to an improved method and apparatus for searching for Bluetooth devices in neighboring Bluetooth equipped portable terminals to enhance the speed and accuracy of the search by assigning a nickname to a Bluetooth management database in the portable data collector/terminal. Here, the nickname generally refers to a name assigned to a neighboring Bluetooth device by the portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Hand held units such as computers, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) etc are becoming increasingly useful amongst consumers and industry. These devices often use Bluetooth, which is a technology for providing short range wireless communications. Bluetooth technology makes it possible to wirelessly connect Bluetooth devices within a relatively short range at low cost. In Bluetooth communication, radio frequencies are used to exchange voice and data signals between Bluetooth devices within a relatively short range without the need of physical cables. For example, when a mobile communication terminal and a laptop computer are each equipped with a Bluetooth module, they can be wirelessly connected each other, i.e. without using cables. Almost all types of digital devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), desktop computers, facsimiles (FAXs), keyboards, and joysticks can utilize Bluetooth communication if they have a Bluetooth module.
A device having a Bluetooth module searches neighboring Bluetooth devices and performs a pairing process with the searched Bluetooth device so that it can wirelessly communicate with the searched Bluetooth device(s). The pairing process is an authentication process in which an inter-device common link key defined in the Bluetooth interface standard is created to authenticate an inter-device common link. Bluetooth devices are widely used in various devices including cell phones and barcode readers. Bluetooth devices normally assign fixed device name to all devices with same model number. However, it becomes a challenging task distinguishing Bluetooth devices during paring process in cases where one pairs multiple Bluetooth devices with the same Bluetooth or device name.
Prior art attempts to address such limitations may be seen in documents such as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/515,636 (Publication No. 2007/0105500, filed Sep. 5, 2006) which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, offer only crude solutions for attempting to establish device connections interfaces for sending data. To this end, related prior art solutions have been hitherto limited to the provision of say, primitive naming constructs which do not allow for the successful, user-friendly naming of multiple devices which may have similar device identities. This is especially true because even if one were to say, have a host device (i.e., PDA, PC, etc.) distinguish neighboring (or slave) devices by adding an arbitrary, host-centric name for each device, and storing the same into a host database. Approaches directed as such are awkward and frequently exhibit stubborn technical issues such as miscommunication, and signal conflicts for several reasons, not the least of which involves the possibility of conflicting (redundant) names and the complexities of properly maintaining central naming databases. Given the various drawbacks related to prior art approaches to using multiple separate Bluetooth devices, there is clearly a need to provide for a more simplified and logical slave device-centric name assignation system that works within the limitations of multiple connectivity, without the aforementioned drawbacks.